SRINAGAR, Aug 25 (INP): Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Gilani on Sunday has appealed to each and every person of Jammu and Kashmir to continue to resist the Indian brutality with courage at this critical juncture.
Syed Ali Gilani, in a first official statement since the scrapping of special status to Jammu and Kashmir by India on August 5, said there is no other alternative but to fight will full determination. “India should know that even if they bring their entire armed forces into occupied Jammu and Kashmir, even then the people of Jammu and Kashmir will not abandon struggle for their rights and liberation.”
“We must fight the enemy in unison. History remains witness to the fact that big military powers have repeatedly perished in front of the force of peoples’ unity and truth. Courage, patience, and discipline are those weapons of a defenseless people which can defeat the enemy with howsoever enormous an arsenal.”
The APHC chairman said, the entire region has been transformed into a prison. “Even as we continue to receive immensely grim news from every corner, the Indian State has made extensive efforts to hide their campaign of brutal repression from the outside world. Not only have they blocked the entire communication systems used by common people since about the beginning of the month, they have also gagged local reportage and news media without any formal declaration. No news about the brutalities and repression of the Indian armed forces, killings, and arrests of thousands of youth is being published. Common people are unable to know about their kith and kin. The oppressors might try to hide the reality, but history will not spare anyone,” he added.
Syed Ali Gilani said, the Indian State has long used elaborate deception to obfuscate Kashmiri people’s narrative of struggle at the international level. “However, in spite of India’s best efforts, Kashmir issue is being highlighted throughout the world like never before. The recently concluded United Nations Security Council meeting on Kashmir as well as the international media coverage are its clear examples. In this scenario, we hope that this message reaches you via the international media.”
He maintained that the rulers from Delhi were drunk in power and arrogance of majoritarianism and they had snatched away all percepts of humanity, ethics, and democracy. “They have increased manifold the already enormous Indian military presence in Kashmir to force unilateral decisions upon people who have been made prisoners in their own homes. These attempts to divide Jammu and Kashmir and bring it under direct Union control in fact, makes a mockery of their own so-called democracy,” he said.
Gilani said, the Indian State subjected the people of Kashmir to a war-like situation, exacerbated by a host of official rumors and psychological warfare, even before the announcement of the decision.
He said, the increased military presence was used to not only imprison the pro-freedom leadership and people, but also large sections of the pro-occupation machinery. The long-standing agents of India and the opportunist merchants of the Kashmiri people’s sacrifices were shown their true dispensable worth and put into protective custody. “This is a great victory for us that now no narrative apart from our ideals of the struggle for self-determination and justice remain relevant in the Kashmiri political discourse. Even those who would never tire of flaunting their pro-India credentials and ties to the Indian system have realized that the Indian State does not care about the lives of Kashmiri people, but is only interested in occupying our land whatsoever the cost.” He pointed out that it was final golden opportunity for such sections of people to come to their senses and join shoulder to shoulder the valiant struggle of Kashmiri people for complete freedom and liberation from India’s occupying forces.
He said decision-making government officials and bureaucrats in general, and people working in the police force especially, must realize that even when they are hand-in-hand in the oppression of their own people, the Indian State does not trust them. They are merely used for occupation’s ends, and then humiliated and thrown away at will. “We have all seen how during the recent events, the Jammu and Kashmir police force was disarmed and the entire command was given to the Indian Army and paramilitaries.”
He also urged the Kashmiri people living outside occupied Kashmir to keep themselves informed of the situation back home. They must participate in the resistance struggle by acting as ambassadors of Kashmiri people all over the world. They should use their knowledge of Kashmir’s history and their own lived experiences to highlight the oppression and brutalities of the Indian State. They should also connect with other marginalized and struggling nationalities in other parts of the world and forge solidarities of resistance.
Gilani said the people of Pakistan and their leaders in particular, and the Muslim nation in general, must come forward at this crucial juncture to help the besieged people of Kashmir. “You are an important party to the Kashmir dispute and this is the time for unity and action. Today, if you once again get ensconced in so-called pragmatism and fail to act decisively, then neither history will forgive you nor will your coming generations. You must continue to heighten your political and diplomatic initiatives to the highest level and respond to the deceit of the Indian occupation with full strength and determination.”
INP/AJ